Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/158

with a chain of gold about his neck. The wardrobe of every gentleman was full of furs, frills and feathers; there were doublets of cloth of gold, gowns of rich velvet, coats of crimson satin, hose of crimson, fur-lined hoods, rings and brooches, chains of gold and jewelled caps, broad-toed shoes with huge Tudor ribbon roses on the instep. Indeed, the servants had much ado to tie up the many points of their master's hose, to lace his doublet and to arrange the frilled shirt to his satisfaction. It was well-nigh impossible for a sixteenth-century gentleman to dress alone: all his garments were laced and tied together—even his sleeves were often laced to show his fine lawn shirt beneath, dainty ruffles of which appeared at the wrist. Low velvet hats with large plumes were introduced by the King, who also insisted on his courtiers cutting off their hair, which they had worn long and lavishly dressed for some time past Indeed, an almost effeminate vanity characterised the men of the time, specially with regard to hair-dressing:—

"I knyt yt up all the nyght
And the day time kemb it down ryght,
And then yt cryspeth and shyneth as bryght
As any pyrrled gold,"